Southeastern Grocers closing 22 stores

Struggling supermarket chain Southeastern Grocers confirmed a new round of closings Thursday, including its last Bi-Lo store in Mount Pleasant and nine others across South Carolina.

The company plans to shutter 22 locations across its footprint, including the Bi-Lo store in Sweetgrass Corner Shopping Center at U.S. Highway 17 and the Isle of Palms connector in Mount Pleasant, spokesman Joe Caldwell said.

Eight other Bi-Lo stores and one Harveys supermarket also will close in the Palmetto State, he said. The locations were not immediately announced.

The financially troubled supermarket chain filed for bankruptcy reorganization in March 2018 and announced it would shutter 94 underperforming stores across the Southeast, including 19 in South Carolina and four in the Charleston area. The measures were meant to trim its debt by about $500 million.

When it emerged from bankruptcy in May, the company had 582 stores and began upgrading several of them.